Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Our conversations, sweet one.”
“Oh.” This made her frown. “I never told you I was a virgin.”
Alexander chuckled. “You told me you’d never been with a wolf, and for that matter you’ve never been with a man, and you would never be used by anyone of the opposite sex.”
She felt her mouth fall open. What was she supposed to say? She had said that, not too long ago.
“Your blush is incredibly charming.”
Layla covered her cheeks.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” he said.
“How can I not be embarrassed? I … I’m sorry.”
Alexander touched her arm. It wasn’t hard, but soft, almost like he couldn’t help himself. The moment he let her go, she wanted to touch that spot again, just to be sure she had felt him touch her.
“You don’t need to be sorry. There’s another way for me to know you’re innocent but that is rather more … personal.”
“How?” she asked.
She loved that Alexander didn’t lie to her, nor did he evade the truth. He told her straight. No matter what the question, he answered. It was how she knew the cult that were calling themselves “Disaster of the Otherworld” wanted the total destruction of all beings so their rules and power would be the only ones followed.
Elle had told her something bad was out there, but Alexander was the one to fill in the blanks. Lewis had told her it was nothing for her to worry about, which translated to: she wasn’t important enough to be told what was going to happen.
Alexander told her about the threat, how a vampire when Elle was sixteen had placed an enthrallment on her, which stopped her from being truly and completely mated to Brandon. The vampire had wanted to remove Elle as Brandon’s mate, which would have set about the Northern Forest Pack’s destruction. Their plan had failed, but Alexander believed there were more ways to begin war.
“Are you sure you want to know the answer?” he asked.
“Yes.” She offered him a smile, to which he picked up her wrist and traced across her pulse.
“Right here, by tasting your blood.”
She frowned. “Does it have to be the blood from my wrist specifically?”
This made Alexander laugh. “No, any of your blood would do at any place on your body.”
“Ah.”
He let go of her wrist and she had to wonder if he felt her pulse racing. Alexander didn’t have a pulse or a heartbeat. He’d allowed her to touch his chest at one of their first meetings. She’d done so and marveled at the lack of sound.
This man did fascinate her.
“It is getting late and I sense you’re tired.”
“I’m fine.”
“I may not be able to see you throughout the day, my sweet, but you’re working hard, and I see the paleness of your skin. You’re tired. Even the marks around your eyes are dark with exhaustion. You shouldn’t be wearing yourself out.”
She wanted to argue with him, but even though she had asked Daisy, the wolf who owned the diner, if she would consider opening late at night, and she’d take the shift, Daisy had declined.
She only got to see Alexander for a few hours, but they were hours she longed for, cherished, and it was why she kept coming out late at night, following the same path Alexander had showed her. He’d promised her it was safe, and she believed him.
Elle had told her to be careful, that she couldn’t trust the vampires. Brandon was wary of them as well. If he was worried about them, why hadn’t he kicked them out of Grace Hill?
Alexander had helped Elle, he’d saved the pack, why did that make him a threat?
“Will you walk me home?” she asked.
“I’d love to.”
****
Alexander watched as Layla snuck back into her home. She still lived with her family, and as she made it through the doorway, she turned and offered him a wave. He lifted his arm and waved back, in a completely human reaction, which rather entertained him.
“You shouldn’t be entertaining the girl,” Charles said.
Alexander didn’t stop looking up at the house. Layla was a special woman. He sensed a beauty inside her. A power. He didn’t know exactly what, but he couldn’t help himself. Each night, he promised himself it would be the last he went to visit her, but every time he did make that promise, he’d find himself going back to that special point in the forest. The one that Crazy Lizzie had told him was sacred, how no one would be able to see what happened there. No one would sense or know of their meetings.
He wasn’t ashamed of meeting with Layla. It was the highest point of his day. However, Charles was starting to bore him with his constant moaning.
“And you shouldn’t be away from the books,” Alexander said, finally stepping away and leaving Layla to rest.